You have to love the smell of Chargers fandom in the morning. It smells like dollar hot dogs. And freshly autographed footballs. And shiny Philip Rivers jerseys with the tags still on.

But flop sweat? Not yet.

And for the faithful who gathered at Qualcomm Stadium for Saturday’s ﻿Chargers Fan Fest, probably not ever.

“I’m a believer. I believe in God and good luck and my family and my Chargers,” said 66-year-old Mary Lou Clearwater of El Cajon. “I get disappointed occasionally, but I never doubt.”

There was no room for doubters or killjoys at the stadium, where about 9,500 die-hards came to get a close look at the players, nab some autographs and watch the team practice.

Admission and parking were free at Fan Fest. The price of a Charger Dog was slashed from $4.50 to $1. And the chance to commune with your team and jump-start your internal Bolts Battery after last season’s heartbreaking flirtation with the AFC Championship? Priceless.

“Oooh, that was gut-wrenching,” 31-year-old David Jimenez of Vista said, remembering January’s messy playoff loss to the New York Jets. “But it’s a new season, and you get to start all over. Maybe we’ll get a shot at the big dance this time.”

With the clean-slate promise of the first day of school and the high-fiving giddiness of the last, Fan Fest was not the place to brood over missed field goals, painful interceptions and players who have moved on to teams we’d rather not talk about. It was the place to get your picture taken with running back Darren Sproles, and give beleaguered kicker Nate Kaeding a forgiving thumbs-up that he was standing close enough to see.

And for the people with the blue-and-gold flags on their cars and the tailgate parties booked through next year, Fan Fest was as good a place as any to explain the method to their optimistic madness.

People like Audra Garcia and Cecilia Peoples, two friends whose devotion to their team is as visible as Peoples’ shiny lightning-bolt earrings and as indelible as Garcia’s lightning-bolt tattoo. How do Garcia and Peoples cherish the Chargers? Let them count the ways.

“We go to all the events — all the games, all the training, all the community events,” said Garcia, now in her second year as a season-ticket holder.

“We’re off the chain,” said Peoples, 37, from the College Area. “We eat, breathe and sleep the Chargers.”

Peoples and Garcia say they love the Chargers for the way the players give back to the community and for the way the fans can make Qualcomm shake with all their stomping and screaming. And when you’re at the stadium on a breezy Fan Fest morning and the players are smiling and the Charger Girls are cheering and all those knee-high fans are looking so adorable in their mini Luis Castillo jerseys, it’s easy to see their point.

But what about the miserable dark days in January that longtime supporters know too well? The ones where championship dreams are dashed and no one can see the sad pictures on the big-screen TV because of the tears?

On days like that, the fairweather folks get snarky and the true fans get tough. You don’t leave your team when it’s down for the same reason you don’t abandon your friends when they’re going through a rough patch. Because they’re your friends, and your life is better with them than without them, no matter what mood they’re in.

“Your heart is broken and shattered, and then you remember there is next year. You go through a mourning period, but when August hits, you’re like, ‘Whoo-hoo!,’ ” Peoples said.

“We don’t jump on bandwagons,” said Garcia, 31, of San Carlos. “They’ll make the Super Bowl one day, and we want to be there.”

The United States may be a nation of fast food and instant Internet gratification, but between the Chargers and the Padres, San Diego has learned to be patient. And as he eyed the long admission line that snaked around the stadium, David Jimenez kept his analysis short and sweet. Being a Chargers fan isn’t something you question, it’s something you do.

“I’ve been a fan since I was a kid and I believe in them,” said Jimenez, who was making a Fan Fest day of it with his wife and three children. “I’m from San Diego and I support my San Diego team. It’s only right to root for them.”